Employment Arbitration

On October 12, 2010, after a four-day hearing, an arbitration panel of the FinancialIndustry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”), sitting in Florida, awarded compensatory damages of $1,167,000 to two brokers for deferred compensation benefits which, under the brokers’ employment agreements, should have immediately vested and been paid in cash to the brokers when they left respondent Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner &…Read More

On October 13, 2010, an arbitration panel of the FinancialIndustry Regulatory Authority, Inc. ("FINRA") awarded compensatory damages of $825,000 to a broker, formerly employed by respondent Affinity Investment Services, LLC ("Affinity," "the brokerage firm," or "the firm"), who allegedly was fired after objecting to sales practices she believed were unlawful.  Ford v. Affinity Investment Services, LLC, FINRA Arbitration No. 08-02782…Read More

This post explains how the arbitration panel is selected in three-arbitrator cases, consisting of intra-industry claims, being arbitrated before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). More specifically, this post addresses how the arbitration panel is appointed in intra-industry claims between a member firm (the broker-dealer) and an associated person (the individual). Such intra-industry disputes relate to the individual’s employment…Read More